Big Zipper, Little Zipper
by Catherine Spark
Summary: Don't worry - this one is fully written and actually five years old now, so I won't leave you at a loose end this time! I just need to upload the chapters. A story set after the end of Tin Man, involving family, dilemma, quest, forgiveness and acceptance.
1. Chapter 1

Before Jeb set out again on his explorations, he and DG held each other all night, as they always did on their last night together. DG invariably found these nights very hard. She wanted to whisper every last secret in his ear, some of which words had not yet been invented for. She wanted to touch his skin, his hair, his nails – breathe him in, taste him, commit the essence of his soul to memory in case he never came back. They'd talked about his travelling many, many times over the three years they had been married, and no more explanations or justifications were needed. She didn't begrudge him his wanderlust – he had spent nearly all his life moving between bases, hiding and fighting, and consequently it seemed he couldn't cope with the peace that currently reigned. Besides, DG knew what it was like to feel you didn't fit into what seemed to others to be an idyllic life. But none of that made the leaving any easier.

Jeb wanted DG to come with him, and she had done so on occasion – or some of the way at least, before returning back alone. She suffered from homesickness. It wasn't that she didn't like to travel. It was just that the voyages he went on – they could take years, and once begun there was no turning back. And there was fighting too, not that, theoretically, that would be a problem either. After all, DG was more than capable of taking care of herself, but she had fought so hard in order to get her homeland back, not because she enjoyed it but because she wanted it more than anything in the worlds. He just hoped, as he did every time, that God would grant him a fair wind to bring him back home safely. He always said he would write, or at least stay in touch some way, but after it became apparent that this was a chore, DG told him to stop. There was no point in exchanging loving messages and news if the news was of no interest and the loving messages were exchanged purely out of duty. Now he felt no guilt about this – both of them knew that if things were the other way around, DG would be the same.

By the time the suns had risen fully over the horizon, Jeb's luggage was loaded into the balloon. Blankets, gas, food and water for a month, money, clothes, repair kit, weapons and ammunition, just in case. Glitch, DG, Az, Cain, Ahamo and the Queen stood at the front of the palace to see him off. The wind would carry him West, and then what? Who knew? Despite the opulence of the country, not all the continents had been explored. DG shielded her eyes and scanned the land and sky for weather clues. There were a few clouds, but they were the fair weather kind – light and fluffy. The suns were warm, evaporating the mist that hung over Finaqua, its reeds, its lakes and its grassy banks. Jeb fired up the balloon and they waited as it filled.

"Take care, Son," Cain told him, before adding sternly, "You'd better come back or there'll be trouble." His eyes were dry but tender. DG recognised the expression– he was drinking in the sight of his only child before he left, and wondering how long the good luck of his safe returns could last.

"I will."

Jeb nodded at Glitch – _look after her._ Glitch touched his fingers to his temple – _I will_. Then Jeb turned to DG and took her hands. "Hold the fort," he told her - something he said every time he travelled. She pressed an index finger to her chest, and held it out vertically towards him - _have a heart_. He replied by repeating the action – _I gave it to you_. Then, without further ado he climbed into the basket and the balloon began to rise skywards.

Cain always preferred to be left alone immediately after his son had gone. He turned and made his way towards the peaceful solitude of the lake and its surroundings. Ahamo gave DG's hand a squeeze. "I've been flying most of my life," he reassured her. "These are perfect conditions."

"Try not to worry, my darling," the Queen told her, drawing her forward into a hug. With that they went inside.

DG and Glitch watched the balloon until they could see it no more. "I feel sick," DG muttered, swallowing it down. She stood, bereft, beside Glitch. "He'll be fine," he said. Then again, "He'll be fine. He'll be fine. He'll be fine."

It wasn't the first time DG was glad of the glitching.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days after Jeb left, DG and Glitch sat by the lake together. "I've been thinking," Glitch said (he was carving a skylark from a piece of wood), "You need something to keep you busy. An adventure of some sort."

She laughed. "Maybe we should go find another witch?"

"Don't," he said sharply, and she instantly regretted her jibe. She had seen the harrowing destruction the last one had caused, but Glitch had suffered more than her as a result of it. "No," he said, "There's been a pape runner mutiny."

"Mutiny?"

"They're a farmer species again, thanks to your magic," Glitch's face briefly shone with pride before he continued, "I did some research. They work in packs but if one of them doesn't work with the rest it's banished."

DG whistled, "That's harsh".

Glitch nodded. "Most die, but this one's loose in the Resistance Forests. We have to hurry. Three viewers have already gone missing."

DG's eyes widened in alarm and she jumped up. "Then we have to catch it quickly – Raw's in danger!"

They walked briskly back to the palace. "I was thinking maybe you could train it," Glitch explained breathlessly.

"To do what?"

"Pull a cart, keep as a pet."

"Maybe," she mused," But how do we get close enough to it to take control?"

"We could stay with Raw and use the resistance treetop walkways. We could lasso it from above or something and then use some fruit to train it with until it trusts us. You still look doubtful!" Glitch seemed personally affronted by DG's sceptical expression.

"Can you blame me?"

He tried to think of a defensive response, failed and laughed. "I guess not," he admitted.

"You're not needed anywhere are you?"

"No," said Glitch and frowned, "At least I don't think so."

"Good. Get your things and I'll meet you out here!"

-/-/-/-/-

It took two days to travel to the edge of the Raw's forest. They had planned to find the river running through the centre and walk up it as an extra safety precaution. Before they entered the forest, they turned to look at each other. "Are your sinuses flaring?" DG asked, and Glitch wrinkled his nose in response.

"He said an elm tree," said DG, casting an eye around as they crossed the forest floor towards the river. "See any elms?" For some minutes they walked, keeping their eyes peeled. At that moment, Glitch's head jerked up and his breathing became shallow. "I smell runner," he whispered.

"Where?" DG's eyes flicked from side to side as she too sniffed.

For a moment there was silence. Then: "THERE!" Glitch whirled round, shot out a finger and pointed. "Run!" They exploded into a hectic dash, hand in hand, deeper into the forest.

"He's gaining on us – !" DG panted.

"Elm tree 2 O'clock!" Glitch interrupted, pointing, "Quick quick quick!"

"There's a rope!" DG jumped, grabbed hold of the rope and, using lumps and small branches on the tree as footholds, pulled herself up the tree trunk, adrenaline giving her extra strength and speed, until she reached a wooden platform several meters up. "Grab my hand!" she called to Glitch, who was dangling, the runner snapping at his ankles. His hand came closer and finally closed on hers. He scrambled, she heaved him up (he was surprisingly light), and they both sat on the branch, breathing hard and thanking the stars that they were alive and unharmed.

"So much for following the river," Glitch commented.

"That looked nothing like the runners in the pape fields!" DG gasped, wild-eyed.

"Yeah, I hadn't realised it would be that big," Glitch stared down between his feet to the forest floor.

"How come?"

"Evolutionary magic," he replied, "They can adapt certain things about themselves to suit their surroundings."

Suddenly there was a roar, but one they recognised well and knew not to fear. "RAW!" DG cried, joyfully, as they saw him standing on a platform in a tree about ten metres away. He was holding a rope. "Swing over!" he instructed, pushing the rope out. DG caught it.

"Er…are you sure is this a good idea?" The runner was waiting underneath the tree. Glitch's fisted hands were jiggling with sudden nerves, and she remembered how he had once said he didn't like heights.

"Yeah, it's fine," DG reassured him, "I'll go first if it makes you feel better."

"If you say so…" Glitch bit his nails as DG stood up carefully, took the rope and pulled it back. He drew a sharp breath as she launched herself off the branch and out in a wide arc, to be caught by Raw on the other side. "See?" she called over. She pushed the rope back out and Glitch caught it distractedly. She could see him stealing himself to swing, and remembered that the last time he had done anything like this someone had needed to push him. She sighed. "Glitch…if you're nervous, just close your eyes. It's ok…Raw and me'll catch you. You crossed a gorge. You jumped _into_ a gorge. And you swung from a basket when I first met you, remember?"

"I can do it," he muttered, and squeezed his eyes tight shut. He grasped the rope firmly in both hands and took a running jump. For a minute the skin on his palms was burning, his stomach was churning and his legs were kicking in empty space. And then it was all over and he felt two pairs of arms grab him round the waist – one large and furry, the other smaller and smoother.

"Raw – good to see you!" He clapped a laughing Raw on the back. "Uh-oh, standby…" Glitch grabbed DG's shoulders as she threw up over the edge of the platform, onto the forest floor below. "Here," he said, handing her a cloth hanky, which she wiped her mouth with. "Must've been the swing over," he commented, laughing awkwardly. "Must've been the swing over. Must've," Raw laid a hand on his arm and the glitch subsided. Then he tentatively reached towards DG with a questioning look. She gave a nod of permission. Raw closed his eyes and laid a hand on her head, then moved to her shoulder. Silence fell and even Glitch stopped his fidgeting. Raw's hand descended to her stomach and lingered there. His eyes opened slowly, and they were radiant and twinkling. "Sickness good," he informed them.

"What do you mean?" Glitch enquired, protectively.

"DG mudder."

"Mudder?" DG frowned.

"Mudder, father, baby. DG become mudder," clarified Raw, looking on with amusement as Glitch gaped at her in speechless disbelief. DG started to chuckle, then laugh out loud, as her hand wandered incredulously over her flat stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm not sick, I'm just having a baby. I still want to capture that runner," DG said as they sat around a stone pot which contained a small campfire.

"Ok, but we are _not_ using you as bait anymore," Glitch informed her. "I said I'd protect you and now there's two of you." He could be very authoritative when he wasn't thinking about it, and she grudgingly admired that in him, even if he could be a little _too_ cautious at times. DG's plan had been that she would have a rope harness fitted and be lowered onto the forest floor by Glitch and Raw. Then when the runner came for her they would pull her up at the last moment and use a lasso to catch it. "I'll go," said Glitch.

"Fair enough," conceded DG. Raw nodded in approval.

-/-/-/-/-

"Ready, Glitch?"

Glitch was trussed up in a harness made from rope. One of the higher branches formed a makeshift pulley, which he now dangled from by another rope. He clenched his fists resolutely.

"Glitch?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," he answered in a slightly tremulous voice.

"Glitch just need courage," Raw reminded him, patting his shoulder, and they slowly began to lower him down. He felt his feet touch the floor and gazed huntedly around, keeping his nostrils wide open. There seemed to be a mobat in his chest, and his face was tingling. Nothing happened. Nothing carried on happening. After nothing had continued to happen for forty-five minutes he began to get fidgety. The harness was digging into his thighs and waist. "Hey, how long do I have to stay down here for?"

"Until a runner comes!" DG called down to him.

"And how long will that be?"

"Hard to tell," Raw answered.

"Try and keep quiet!" added DG, "If you yell too much it'll think you're a rival predator!"

"Oh grapes," Glitch cursed softly. Another hour passed and he was definitely getting uncomfortable when…

CHACKACHACKACHACKACHACKA…

"Aaargh! It's here!" Glitch shrieked to the heavens, "Don't let it touch my noggin!" Just as it was rearing its head to take a juicy chunk out of him, he was whisked up into the air like some kind of weird, backwards roller-coaster ride, and the lasso came down in his place. There was a roar and a retreating chackachacka, which faded into nothing.

"Darn it – missed!"

"I am _not_ going down there again – my skin's rubbed to the bone!" exaggerated Glitch, loosening the harness, disentangling himself and rubbing the creases at the top of each leg where the rope had cut in.

"We'll give it a rest and try again after lunch," said DG. Glitch sighed. He wouldn't ever put Raw through more trauma with a carnivorous runner, given the situation he had been in when they first met. But if he didn't play bait again then DG would. There was no way out. "C'mon," DG added, and they made their way to Raw's hut for a lunch of fruit, honey, chestnuts and pigeon.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Luckily the first encounter with the runner had not been entirely a waste of time, because it came back for another try. It wasn't so bad for Glitch either – they padded the harness stop it rubbing, and he now trusted DG and Raw to pull him up in time, even if it meant missing their quarry. Of course, he'd trusted them all along, but…well…it had been the first attempt and there had been no telling how it would go.

This time the runner came within minutes, and it wasn't frightening being hoisted upwards either. "I got him!" DG shrieked, and sure enough, the runner was trapped, straining and dashing round in hopeless circles on the end of the lasso. "Poor thing," DG marvelled, gazing down.

"Yeah don't forget he almost killed us," Glitch reminded her.

"Fetch fruit?" Raw suggested, and DG nodded. He disappeared, and DG and Glitch gazed over the walkway to the creature below, which had now stopped trying to run. It was panting and attempting, and failing, to remove the lasso.

"He won't let us near him. Not in a million years," Glitch ran a finger along his zipper in thought.

"How can you tell it's a he?"

He gestured to the teeth. "Spikey. The females have rounded tips."

"Let's call him Spikey then."

"Ok." Glitch looked sideways at her. "How long will this take?"

She shrugged. "It's never been done before…But now he's stopped running," she continued as Glitch opened his mouth and drew breath, "I'd say…three or four days to get near. Then maybe a week to teach him to walk with us."

"That's workable."

Raw returned with a basket of pears. "This do?"

"Perfect!" DG picked up a stick with a rope attached, rather like a primitive fishing rod. Then she tied a pear to the string. "Lower me down," she said, adding quickly, seeing Glitch start to protest: "Not low enough for him to reach, just so he can see me".

The runner gazed up at the squishy-looking, wriggling, humanoid piece of meat hanging just out of its reach. How frustrating! He reared his head up as far as it would go, but those legs still kicked annoyingly above him. Then a very odd thing happened. A juicy, golden pear seemed to float down from the sky. The runner sniffed it appreciatively. This was far superior to anything he had come across in the wild. It seemed ready to eat, and smelled mouth-wateringly sweet. Was it too good to be true? No, it seemed to be ok. He nibbled. Very tasty. In less than three seconds the pear was snaffled.

Above him, DG punched the air and motioned for another one.

-/-/-/-/-

"How much food does one of them need a day?" DG asked Raw.

"It eat man in two days. Maybe twelve pears."

"So we can train with four each morning, afternoon and evening?"

"Possible."

DG grinned, energised by purpose. "Then we can take him home in a few weeks!"


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Three weeks later they returned to Finaqua with a semi-tame Spikey and a very elated DG – and when DG was happy, so was Glitch. Cain met them at the opening of the maze. He hugged them both – one with each arm – and as he did so, DG whispered her piece of news in his ear. He drew away and looked her up and down, seeing her in a new light. She smiled back expectantly, waiting for him to react. Then his face split into a gigantic grin and he spun her around.

The months passed. Spikey grew more biddable. DG grew bigger and more unwieldy. Glitch grew more and more fascinated with her baby bump, though he was careful not to be invasive. Sometimes DG would struggle to accept the limitations pregnancy necessitated. Glitch and Cain would try their best to make this process easier for her, although she occasionally took out her frustration on them – especially Glitch, who tended to be a natural target because he was so expressive and never bore a grudge. Sometimes he snapped back at her, but he would always apologise immediately afterwards and take the blame, on account of the fact that he only had half a brain.

And then came one unforgettable winter day – the kind where ice crystals form a rainbow halo around each sun, and the moons are visible in the daytime. It was bitterly cold, so DG, Glitch, Cain and Az were all trussed up in fur coats. A light sprinkle of snow lay on the grass, and the lake had been frozen solid for several weeks. The four of them were walking together on the thick ice, chatting and laughing, when there was a shout from DG. "Something's happening!" Glitch was the first person to skid and slide towards her and hold onto her shoulders. "What is it?"

"I'm wet!"

"WHAT?"

"I think my water's broken!"

Cain reached them next. "What can I do?"

"Go on ahead and get my mother – I think the baby's coming!" He took off at a run.

Glitch turned to Az, who was still hurrying towards them (she had ventured further onto the lake than them). "We need to go in! We need to go in! We – " DG tapped him and the glitching stopped.

Halfway up to the palace, supported on one side by Glitch and the other by Az, DG was crippled by a contraction. Glitch watched in empathetic agony as her legs crumpled beneath her and her face screwed up in discomfort.

"Does it hurt?" he whispered, half scared, half curious.

"Not exactly hurt," she said once the wave had subsided. "I can't describe it …" and then she was gripped again. Az laid a hand on DG's bump and closed her eyes. Light pulsated, and she felt the tension dissipate. "There, that's better isn't it?" she murmured, smiling. DG nodded.

They got her back to the palace, and the Queen and Az helped her bath and change into a night gown. Then she climbed onto the bed and Glitch was allowed into the room, on the condition that he stayed up the top end. Cain took the classic male role – pacing up and down the landing, uncomfortable with being in so personal a space, yet not wanting to miss the birth of his first grandchild. Ahamo retreated to his workshop. Time passed slowly. Glitch kept making terrible jokes. "Hey, what would you do if it came out and it was a mobat?" And "Good job you didn't fall through the ice and have it in the lake!" And "Hey – if I'm around when it learns to speak it'll probably think it's normal to say everything twice!"

"Glitch," Az interrupted gently after fifteen minutes or so of this, "Relax."

"Sorry." He gave a rather stressed laugh and fell silent. DG squeezed his hand.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Why is nothing happening?" DG asked after there had been no contractions for a few hours.

"Sometimes it takes a while to start properly, sweetheart" her mother explained, and DG nodded, rolling her eyes.

"I read somewhere that walking helps," Az added. So they walked together around the grounds, Cain all jumpy and on edge, until DG experienced another contraction that ripped a scream from her, brought her to her knees and made her bite down hard on her sleeve. "I think…" she gasped afterwards, "…That was the real thing." They half-walked her, half-carried her back to her bedroom, and in the short distance they covered she was rendered legless three more times.

"…And now I want to push!"

"Not yet little Sis, blow out – blow out – blow out!" Az mimed blowing out a candle and DG, in a haze of pain and pressure, copied her. "NOW you can push!" Az told her after several minutes of dizzy puffing. "Come on, Deeg, almost there!"

"I can see the baby's head, darling, just a bit more…" her mother urged.

"Glitchyou'recrushingmyhand..."

"Whoops, sorry…" Glitch loosened his grip and instead bit his lip until he broke the skin, saying "Ow" and looking confused as he put his fingers to his mouth and saw the blood.

"It burns! "

"Feel for the light," Az encouraged her. "You can do it little Sis! Concentrate on the light and you'll be fine!"

DG tried – it felt impossible – but as soon as the magic flowed through her she relaxed into a rhythm, squeezing and releasing Glitch's hand, and listening to her mother's and sister's instructions.

And then, with a sloshing noise and a cough and splutter, there was a warm, wet, squirming weight on her tummy, and it was as if the last nine months had never happened. There was no more pain, no more burning – she barely even remembered all that. Only an ecstatic high of happy magic and endorphins, and a cry like a kite, like a cat, like a songbird, alien and yet utterly of her all at the same time.

"Oh my," gasped Glitch, craning forward, transfixed with wonder.

"Is this _mine_?" DG whispered, as a starfish hand curled around her finger and a puckered mouth rooted for food.

"She's all yours, Deeg…" said Az. And suddenly she was overcome with sisterly emotion and her mother sent her out to fetch Ahamo.

"'She? It's a girl?" inquired DG, trying to lean forwards.

"Yes," her mother confirmed.

"Then her name is Gale," DG told them all. "The Grey Gale protected the O.Z. I want the name to live on and protect her too."

Cain had slipped in quietly once the birth was all over. "Jeb would be really proud," he said quietly.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Never one to lie around, DG and Gale were up and about within two days, as soon as it had been confirmed by a doctor that there was no risk of bleeding. The first few months were hard. Harder than DG, Glitch, or anyone had anticipated. Ahamo and Queen were unable to help much. They were away for long stretches, and spent most of their time at home engaged in matters of state. This didn't especially suit Ahamo – he preferred his workshop and his art – but he took these duties on so that he and the Queen would have more time to spend together. Az had proved to be humble and gracious, and was desperate to make up for at least some of what the witch had made her do. The Queen had been reinstated as soon as the witch had left, but Az was still heiress to the throne. Consequently she was sharing duties with the Queen in order to prepare for the transfer of power sometime in the future.

Gale slept in DG's bed, which made things a little easier, although it was always a worry that she might fall out or get smothered. She needed to be fed, comforted and changed day and night, and on top of that she proved to be a very sicky baby. If ever DG felt sad, all she had to do was think of the look of shock and personal insult on Glitch's face the time he had been left in charge of Gale and she had spit up all over his coat. He for one was very relieved when that phase ended. And then the teething stage began, followed rapidly by the shuffling, where every staircase had to be cordoned off and every corner padded, fireplaces guarded, cupboards locked and anything containing morartainium kept well out of reach.

Cain, for reasons that he chose not to share, would watch but only occasionally participate in the care of his granddaughter with a great deal of persuasion. DG worried about him, but he would emphatically and repeatedly assert that everything was fine when asked what was wrong. But they all saw the pride and involuntary smile that would break through those stony features when he talked about his Gale. That fact – that he loved her – was enough.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Hey, let's blow some bubbles, yeah? Blow some bubbles, yeah?" Glitch carried the squirming eighteen-month-old out to the bank of the lake one radiant June morning, a pot of bubbles clasped precariously to her chest. He set her down by the lake. She squealed and grabbed his nose. "There," he said, gently disengaging her hand and blowing a stream of bubbles which floated out across the lake. Gale shuffled her way after them (she still hadn't learned to walk or even to pull herself into a standing position), and he placed a protective hand around her waist before she got too close to the water. "Oh no you don't," he told her. She started to turn red and gear up for a major scream. As a means of distraction he turned her upside down and tickled her. She forgot her grizzling, shrieked with laughter and wriggled – her fair, flyaway hair waving in the wind. Laughing, he set her down. She sat on the grass, reaching up towards a new flock of bubbles that was now floating into the sky. Glitch watched her in complete contentment, and then noticed something odd. At first it was just a little twitching of her eye and the left side of her mouth, and then her left arm seemed to give way, causing her to pitch over onto her back. She made no attempt to right herself. Glitch saw that her hand, too, was now twitching. "Even with half a brain," he said aloud, trying not to panic, "I can tell that's not good."

DG fed Spikey an apple, rubbing under his chin (she had found a tickly spot there). He no longer smelled bad, and she had a theory as to why this was. The pre-digestive enzymes carnivorous runners secreted were not being produced, as his diet consisted mainly of fruit and small amounts of ready-cooked meat. Since the protein in the meat was not being hydrolysed, there was no horrible smell. Eating fruit instead of meat seemed to improve his temperament too. He had accepted a harness for the second time in a week. It was a long, slow, painstaking process – far more so than domesticating wild horses for example, but he was no longer the wholly instinctive predator he had been. Suddenly there were rapid, running footsteps, and DG looked up in confusion as Glitch came pounding round the corner, Gale in his arms and a look of profound distress on his face. "What happened?" she asked.

"I – I don't know," he stuttered, trying to think clearly. "But something's really wrong – she's glitching!" DG grabbed Gale from him and his hands clasped and unclasped nervously. Shock registered on her face as she noticed the twitching that seemed now to be occurring all down Gale's left side. "Get Az or mother! They'll know who to take her to!" She cradled Gale, who was still conscious and beginning to cry. Without another word Glitch dashed towards the palace. "Don't be frightened," DG whispered, as much to herself as to Gale. "It'll be alright." Then she hurried after Glitch.

-/-/-/-/-

"Az! Your majesty!" Glitch came bursting into the palace's living room, where Az, Ahamo and the Queen were engaged in replying to state correspondence from the city.

"Glitch, we asked not to be disturbed," Az said, in a voice that gave him chills. It reminded him of the witch.

"I know I know, but this is an emergency…Gale's glitching!"

" _What?"_ All three jumped up as he frantically gestured them to follow him.

"What do you mean she's glitching?" Ahamo asked as they clattered down the stairs.

"You'll see when we get outside," he replied, and the four of them exited the palace just as DG came into view, holding a perfectly healthy looking Gale.

"She looks fine," Az commented.

"But…I…she was…wasn't she?" Glitch pointed at Gale in confusion. "But she _was_ glitching…" he turned wide eyes to Az, as if afraid she might not believe him.

"Yeah, she was, but it stopped," DG said, in a thoroughly puzzled voice.

"Can you explain more?" Az asked.

"Well her whole left side was out of control, and then it just went back to normal after a while," she replied, "I mean it's good it stopped, right?"

"Out of control – in what way?" Cain had joined the group. Glitch did a quick impression for him. "Could it have been a one off? These things happen sometimes with babies."

"I guess," said DG thoughtfully.

"Well if it happens again, tell me. Prioritise it over everything. We'll get a doctor right away." DG nodded.

"Aaaa," interjected Gale (she hadn't acquired any meaningful language yet). She held out a chubby hand to Az, who gathered her into her arms and jiggled her. "Did you have a little turn?" Gale laughed. "Not funny!" Gale's response was to push a hand firmly into Az's face and reach out to Glitch. Az handed her over. "Doing the rounds I guess," Glitch commented with a chuckle. She seized the zipper on his head. "Ow – no! My brain, or what remains of it, is off-limits!" He batted her arm away and she chewed on her fist instead, pouting at him with a look of deep reproach.

-/-/-/-/-/-


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

All went well for a short time. DG started work on a car she was building from pieces of scrap metal. The Queen still struggled to understand the point of these projects. A princess could have any vehicle she wanted, alive or mechanical, as long as it didn't harm the kingdom! Why a clanky, faulty, home-made specimen? And why spend all that time toiling when you had magic and world class mechanics at your beck and call that could make the process so much faster? DG wished she was able to put into words the joy that lay in the actual construction as well as in the finished product, and the satisfaction of having made something from scratch with your own hands that could do your bidding and needed only sunlight to power it. Meanwhile Gale either played with Glitch or sat near DG clanking spanners together.

Then one day Gale's glitching occurred again. This time it was worse and lasted longer. It had augmented into hectic jerking and writhing all down her left side. Ahamo and the Queen were away at the time, and while Az, DG, Cain and Glitch waited for the doctor they watched helplessly as Gale's face and body contorted and she let out high pitched, bubbly, intermittent shrieks. After several minutes, Az could take it no more. "Maybe we can heal her," she said. "Come on, Deeg, focus the light in your mind into her body and try and pull the illness from her." DG held Gale with one arm and placed her free hand on her twitching form. Az put her hands over DG's. DG tried to summon that free, effortless feeling of childhood that had set the magic flowing all the other times, but with her child in pain and glitching so badly, it was impossible. For several minutes there was silence. At last, DG opened her eyes. "It's no use. I can't do it."

"I'm scared," Glitch piped up suddenly, causing everyone to turn and look at him.

"Me too," admitted Cain. Az nodded. DG swallowed, bit her lip and tightened her grip on Gale, who was beginning to slump to the left.

-/-/-/-/-

The doctor arrived by balloon. Cain met him at the mouth of the maze and led him to the palace. He took one look at Gale, who was still glitching, and shook his head. "She shouldn't be doing that. That's a fit," he declared. "Is this the first time it's happened?"

"No," DG said, "It happened a while back, but this is worse."

"And did it happen on only one side then as well?"

"Yeah."

"The same side?"

"Um – yes."

Glitch lifted an anxious face. "Can you stop it?"

"I hope so," the doctor said.

"How?"

"She'll need to go into the Central City Hospital for an investigation. Meanwhile I have to give her something to stop the fitting." He reached into his bag and extracted a capsule which he broke open, dropped into his palm and held against her nose and mouth.

"What are you giving her?" DG demanded.

"It's a sedative in vapour form – hopefully she'll sleep the fit off."

"What comes next?" Cain was afraid of the answer but forced himself, as a grandfather, to ask the question.

"It depends what we find. It may be that Gale will need medication to keep the fits at bay, and then perhaps we can wean her back off if she doesn't have any more."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

The doctor said the hospital would probably only allow one person to come with Gale, and of course that one person would be DG. Cain, who was at his practical best in a crisis, agreed to work together with Az to fill DG's duties and responsibilities while she was away. Glitch – well, Glitch badgered, lobbied and insisted with the doctor all the way out of the maze to the waiting balloon until finally the doctor caved in and allowed him to come to the hospital too.

Once the fight had gone out of him, the surrealism of the situation sank in. Only yesterday morning their lives had stretched unfettered before them. Now there was the very faint but real fear that one of those lives might now be threatened. The breeze was warm in a perfect September sky. Cotton clouds were floating in the air near the balloon, but not near enough to make them damp or cold. The warm sun poured down and the fields below were golden. Central City and the old road seemed to glint in the light. All this hardly registered. DG was holding Gale – semi-conscious and heavy from the sedatives. The doctor was bombarding her with questions. How old was Gale exactly? Twenty-one months old. Had she started walking? No. Pulling herself upright using furniture? No. Crawling? No, but she could shuffle around. So she was sitting? Yes. Any words yet? No. Responding to instructions? Some, and not consistently – but she could wave hello and reach out to people. Glitch's hand was on DG's arm, and though he stared down at the quilted scenery, his mind – or what was left of it – was elsewhere.

There was another fierce battle of wills at the doors of the hospital, but once again Glitch won through, and the three of them were allowed in. Once they had filled in all the necessary forms they had a long wait before a doctor came to prepare Gale for the tests. She was beginning to wake up, and wanted to explore her surroundings. Glitch and DG took turns holding her, and they walked up and down the corridors of the hospital. "Hello! Hello! Hello!" Glitch said for her, as she waved at everyone who passed them, and they all waved and smiled back, bowing. The bowing still made DG smile.

Presently a doctor came and found them. "We're ready to go," he said. Glitch carried Gale over his shoulder, and DG walked behind, distracting her with her little green-dressed fairy toy which, despite her worried state, she found the light and focus to make flutter through the air. It hovered just above Gale's button-nose and then darted out of her reach at the last minute.

They entered a warm, ambient room with a bed in the middle that had railings either side, and coloured lights strung across the ceiling. There was even a bubble machine. "This will be Gale's room for the time being," the doctor informed them. "Now, what we'd like to do is monitor her over one day and night, and see what's going on in her brain when she's having fits." The rest of the details, as they came out, were not pretty. Gale would have wires glued to her scalp, and these wires would feed into a pocket-sized machine which would monitor her brain activity. They were to press a button whenever they thought she was having a fit. At the end of the monitoring time the wires would be removed (which would be uncomfortable due to the glue), her results would be evaluated and it would be decided what needed to be done.

Gale squirmed and shrieked in protest all through the process of attaching the wires, and DG and Glitch – white and shaking, held her down until every single one was securely in place. Then the machine started misbehaving and took a good ten minutes to work properly. Finally Gale started trying to pull the wires off and was prevented only by Glitch, who held both her hands in his. This made her frustrated again, leading to another screaming bout.

DG, who was beginning to fall apart at the seams, was persuaded by a nurse to leave Gale with Glitch (who volunteered to watch her) and have some time to herself. Glitch took her to the window to watch the doves which flocked the streets of Central City. These doves were much loved by the locals – in fact there were several street sellers offering bags of seed to feed them with. As a result they had grown very tame, and would think nothing of hopping onto your shoulder or hand in the hope of finding a titbit. They symbolised to the city dwellers the end of a tyranny: as the suns had broken through from behind the moon they had floated down in their thousands from the sky to settle, like living snow, on the spires and domes of the city. Some said it was a divine sign. A few said it was some kind of migration. Others said it was a result of DG's good magic, although DG emphatically maintained her ignorance of the occurrence. They left a lot of mess but even this was appreciated. It was collected and used to fertilise the fields of the surrounding farms, resulting in cheap and bountiful food. They played for a little, but the stress of the procedures and the newness of the situation soon overcame Gale, and despite the discomfort of the electrodes she fell into a light sleep. Glitch asked to leave Gale in the company of a nurse, while he went to find DG. She was sitting on the steps outside the hospital. He sat down beside her and witnessed her tears. He said nothing, but put his arm around her.

"I spent my whole life on the Other Side thinking if I could only get away and travel everything would be good," she sobbed. "Then I thought all our problems were over once we'd got rid of the witch." She pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut.

Glitch rubbed her back in a comforting manner, "We shouldn't look at life with the sole aim of getting rid of all its problems." He seemed taken aback at his own words, but continued. "It's not possible – I know that now. New ones just…just take their place. Maybe that's the same in every world. I guess what really matters is…is how you react to them. And that you never lose hope. Hey," his eyes widened, "It was you who taught me that!"

"Really?" She met his gaze in surprise.

"Yeah!" He frowned. "I think so anyway."

They both contemplated. "It's just hard," she said finally as fresh tears welled, "When you have to watch the people you love suffer."

"Yeah," Glitch replied looking at her, "I know."

Presently a nurse came to find them. "Your daughter's awake now," she informed them both. Are your ready to come in?"

-/-/-/-/-


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

When they came back in they found two nurses entertaining a hooting-with-laughter Gale. A rubber glove that had been blown up to epic proportions, and was being tossed around like a balloon. Now and again Gale still reached up towards the wires covering her head, but she was for the most part distracted. DG and Glitch watched in silence through the door for a few minutes, before knocking and entering.

At that moment Gale pitched to the left for the third time in her life, and the jerking started up again. DG hit the 'alert' button on the machine, and buzzed for a nurse. Although no less scary, it felt good to be in the right place and able to do something, however small, in reaction to the seizure. When the nurse came she explained that unless the situation became life threatening they couldn't medicate during the monitoring time.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Sleeping proved impossible. Without medication Gale fitted for most of the night, and DG and Glitch took turns holding her. Glitch came off the worst. He had a naturally lower physical stamina than DG, but on top of that he let her have the parent bed. He made do with the one chair, which was covered in completely smooth plastic with no back support. Every time he tried to doze he would slide forwards, jerk awake and haul himself back up. The next day all three of them were completely exhausted.

When the monitoring time had finished and Gale had finally been medicated, an exhausted DG and Glitch listened to the doctor's evaluation.

"Well," he told them, "It goes without saying that these are fits of some kind, and Gale has had at least one major one every half an hour or so since last night. The fits are caused by abnormal, uncontrolled activity in her brain."

DG and Glitch nodded, to show they were taking everything in. "Clearly they're recurrent and don't die down on their own, as we saw over the course of the monitoring. Now, we'll see if we can get them under control with some regular medication." He scribbled a prescription. "There are lots of chemicals in the brain that control its activity," he explained, as he did so. "We need to try and re-adjust them so that they do their job more effectively." He handed them the prescription. "We'll start her on this and see how she does." They nodded. "We'll also put out a call for viewers so we can run a scan."

"What will be the side effects of the medicine?" DG asked.

"It decreases the activity of her brain, so it will make her sleepy. Now, given her developmental delays that isn't really what we want. We want her to be alert and learning all the time, but it's a trade-off…"

"Wait, wait, wait," Glitch held up a hand, looking puzzled. "Delays?"

"Yes." They both looked blank. "Most children of nearly two years would be toddling around and saying simple words. Gale isn't doing that. I think we can help her though, and you'll play a key role in that."

Glitch nodded, and DG, with a rush of affection and admiration, could see him gearing himself up to become more than Gale's playmate and godfather. Now he would also be her protector, her motivator, her therapist and her carer as much and as often as needed.

"Are the fits and the delays linked?"

"As a doctor I'm taught to cluster symptoms, so I would say, provisionally, yes I think they could well be linked. Which means that if no brain damage occurs or has occurred as a result of the fits, once we get them under control there's a good chance she'll improve all round. I'd like to run some more tests and see if we can reach a diagnosis."

-/-/-/-/-


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

After the fall of the witch, one of the first things the re-instated Queen had done was to make exploitation of viewers illegal and punishable by lifelong imprisonment. However, viewers are kind-hearted beings who hate to see people suffer, and they enjoy using their powers to help people. Accordingly a system was designed whereby, when someone was in need of a viewer's power, a message would be sent out asking for volunteers. The message was usually sent in the form of an imprintable morartainium disk – one of the ones that had formally been used as a spy breadcrumb. This was carried to the chief viewer by either a crow or one of the city's doves. The viewers would then conference telepathically and decide whether they were willing to volunteer, and if so which of them could best fulfil the request. If they chose to fulfil the request a leaf was sent back. If not, a stick. No payment was given for their services, and this was a mutual understanding between volunteer and requester.

The chief viewer was climbing an elm tree looking for grille – a very nutritious type of parasitic fungus that grew in the high branches of certain types of deciduous tree. He had just found a nice big chunk and was cutting it away, when he felt the presence of a dove in his mind, skimming over the trees, and then into view. He held out his hand and the disk dropped into it. The imprinted message came pulsating into his mind: _"Viewer needed in Central City Hospital for a brain scan,"_ an image of a fitting Gale, Cain, and a background glimpse of DG and Glitch. The chief viewer gave a sharp intake of breath and sent a telepathic message. A second viewer hurried down the main treetop walkway to his side. "Raw answer message. Look after people. Be back soon," the chief viewer told his right hand man.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Waiting for a viewer was a nail biting time for Glitch and DG. It was a bit of a lucky dip as to who would turn up, given the voluntary nature of the viewers' services, and some were far more skilled than others. On the upside, they didn't have to cope with the monitoring wires any more. Gale still had circular red patches where her skin had been rubbed in the wire removal process, and her fine hair lay in tufts. This made DG smile a little because whenever Glitch held her and they put their heads together, they looked like two members of the same mad-hair cult. With these happier thoughts, along with sending messages back to the palace, they distracted themselves from thinking about the viewer.

When the viewer walked through the door, almost all their worries instantly dissipated. Raw hugged them both. One doctor murmured to another, questioning the wisdom of allowing one so close to the parents to read Gale's brain. After leaving the room briefly to discuss this, it was decided to allow the scan to go ahead. DG and Glitch were extremely thankful for that: Raw was highly skilled, and although reading a brain wasn't the most comfortable experience, there was no other viewer to whom they would rather entrust Gale.

A large, reflective metal screen was provided on which to display the scanned images. Raw may have been able to see the brain with his second sight, but he didn't have the medical knowledge to interpret what he was seeing, so the doctors needed to be party to the image in order to discuss its appearance. The screen was cordoned off even from Gale, and DG and Glitch weren't allowed in the scanning room. This was because patients and carers could sometimes suffer trauma from the sight of their own brain or the brain of a loved one. On top of that, nobody knew what they were going to see. Gale was very clingy to DG, and who could blame her? Here was this strange, wild, furry thing who spoke in gruff, staggered tones and who wanted to carry her off and look inside her head. Her arms clasped like a vice around DG's neck, grabbing a fistful of hair in the process. DG tried to disengage her, but it only made her hold on tighter. Without a word, but with a sympathetic expression on his face, Glitch reached behind DG and gently worked each of Gale's fingers free, before picking her up and handing her to Raw. She immediately started crying.

"Don't cry sweetheart, we'll be here when you get back," DG told her, and then she and Raw disappeared through the double doors into the scanning room.

When it was over Raw left the hospital without saying goodbye. This had been the condition upon which he had been allowed to scan Gale's brain, and had been agreed before the scan began. Since Raw was a personal friend of DG and Glitch, if he saw something very obviously bad, it would be impossible for him not to show this in some involuntary form and alarm them. Therefore the first indication of the doctors' views came in the form of a formal consultation after the scan. Gale sat on Glitch's knee, so that DG could give the doctors her full attention.

"We think we know what's causing Gale's fits," the neurosurgeon explained. "When we saw the image of her brain there was a patch of inflammation in the right half. Since her fits are confined to her left side, we can assume that this is what's causing the fits. Left controls right, right controls left." DG nodded and Gale let out a squeal – Glitch was tickling her feet as he nodded intelligently. "We can give her medication to try and get rid of that inflammation, as well as carry on the current medicine to stop the fitting."

"Will she have to stay in the hospital?" DG asked.

"I think it would be a good idea for a few days, especially as she still needs to see occupational, physio and speech therapists."

"What do these people actually do?"

"I want her to see a physiotherapist to check there's no physical reason why she isn't walking. As for the other two, they'll be able to teach you exercises and activities to help her learn to walk, as well as ways to communicate."

-/-/-/-/-/-


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

Gale, DG, Cain, Az, a fully tame Spikey and Glitch were all gathered in the pavillion by the lake a week later. The sunshine was warm and everyone was relaxed and content. All of them, with the exception of Gale, Cain and Spikey sat on the floor. Spikey stood in the centre of the circle with a cushion strapped to him, and Cain was supporting Gale on his back. Every time he moved she burst out laughing – a laugh that was dangerously contagious. DG held a dictionary of signs on her knee. Cain, Glitch, Az and DG had all agreed to attend the signing sessions too. Ahamo and Queen were also willing to learn, but given their duties at the palace, Az had offered to learn on their behalf so that she could pass the signs on to them. Gale was proving slow to catch on. Despite several short signing sessions a day she had made very little progress with her first sign – 'more'. Her attention seemed to wander easily, and it was very difficult to make her look directly at people for any length of time.

"Look at you up on your steed…look at you up on your steed…up on your steed," Glitch said with exaggerated enthusiasm. Gale beamed and rocked back and forth. Cain lifted her down. She started whinging and wriggling immediately in protest. "Want to go up again? Yeah? Then you'll have to ask for _more_ ," said Cain, emphasising the last word whilst moving Gale's hands into the sign for 'More'. Everyone copied them. "Er…" Glitch was looking confused. DG took his hands and moved them into the correct position and he smiled self-consciously. Once Gale had made the sign for 'more' with Cain moving her hands for her, he lifted her back onto Spikey with understated but generous praise. Spikey craned his neck round to look at her, and the fun began again. DG wasn't sure what the reason was and hadn't liked to ask, but since they had come back from the hospital Cain had expressed a wish to be actively involved in Gale's therapy.

After a few minutes DG suggested another break to practice the 'more' sign again. Cain was about to lift Gale off Spikey, when her eyes began to flicker and she started to slump to the left. Instantly and instinctively Glitch – who was sitting on that side – sprang up with a muttered "Uh-oh", and caught her before she fell. He laid her on her side on his knee as the left side of her body began flexing rhythmically. Cain looked on with an expression of pure horror – this was the first time he had ever witnessed one of Gale's fits.

"This shouldn't be happening!" protested DG, "She's been taking her medicine!" She glanced around hectically, before taking one of the fast acting vapour capsules they had been given just in case, and thrusting it into Glitch's hand. He broke it open and cupped his hand loosely over Gale's nose and mouth as they had been shown at the hospital. Meanwhile, DG was scribbling a note on a scrap of paper using a pencil stub Cain had found in his pocket. A crow's call would take too long. " _Gale Cain fitting – please send help"_. She folded the paper into the shape of a paper aeroplane and prepared for some of the most powerful magic she had ever performed. Once again she tried to recall the feeling of effortless, infinite skies that had stretched above and around her during her childhood, but she simply couldn't.

DG suddenly felt centuries old and unbearably careworn…and then she realised this was the key. She loved her daughter more than anything in the worlds and her inability to distract herself from the fact that Gale was hurting was as good and righteous a feeling as the innocence she remembered from when she was little. No parent wants life to be hard for their child. She wanted Gale to experience the same feeling of boundless possibilities that she had done. Then came the understanding that because she lived for Gale, the light was Gale's more than her own and could thus be channelled by her hopes and fears for her. This chain of logic took only a few seconds to complete, so fast was DG's mind racing. Now instead of pushing her worries to the back of her mind she leant into them, and felt a discharge of magic, the magnitude of which she had never before experienced. With a flash of light the paper aeroplane shot out of the pavilion and streaked away towards the hospital. Ten minutes later Gale had not responded to the medication. Glitch was holding her close, though the shaking on her left side was causing her to slip down, and he had to keep re-gathering her up. DG stroked her hair and whispered soothing words in her ear. Cain, having taken Spikey back to his enclosure, had informed Ahamo and the Queen of what had happened and what was being done. He was now standing, watching in a semi-catatonia of anxiety. Finally the hospital balloon arrived and Glitch and DG automatically stepped in.

Once at the hospital DG and Glitch weren't allowed in the room at first because of the amount of people working on Gale. When she was finally stabilised – medicated into a semi-comatose state, Glitch and DG met with the doctor who had become 'Gale's doctor'. He suggested upping the dose of the medication to control her fits and continuing with the medicine for the inflammation, to which they agreed.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

Two months of relative stability followed. The fits continued to happen, but not as many, or as regularly. Despite this reprieve, though, Gale failed to progress with the sign language, so another system of communication called the Picture Exchange Communication System, or PECS, was added in. This involved pointing at pictures by way of communicating what was wanted or needed. Tantrums became a frequent occurrence as Gale struggled to make herself understood. Except when she was with Glitch, that is – understanding what she wanted came naturally to him. The physiotherapists at the hospital also provided a gait trainer – this is like a bigger version of a baby walker – to see if they could get Gale closer to walking.

One month later, and Gale was not making much consistent progress with the PECS or the gait trainer. To make matters worse, the frequency of her fits began to escalate again. Another trip to the hospital ensued. Her medications were increased, a new one was added, and she underwent another brain scan. This revealed that the inflammation had spread, but thankfully it was still contained within the right half of the brain.

Ten days later, a third medication was added, and the dosage ratios of the other two were altered. A dietician introduced an experimental alteration – she was placed on a diet consisting (for the time being) solely of exact amounts of a special type of milk at prescribed times. (Glitch: "No corn with butter?" No. "No apples?" No. With increasing distress: "No mug-glug?" No.) Later that week they noticed Gale beginning to slump to the left when sitting up. Someone had to watch her twenty six hours a day – both for her own safety, and to stop her putting things in her mouth thus upsetting the diet. As time passed she began to instinctively search for more and more things to put in her mouth so this got harder and harder. By this time Cain had taken on DG's royal duties almost full time.

Unfortunately, despite all these measures, the regime still didn't seem to be working. Gale's fits continued to escalate, into upwards of twenty notable ones a day. It got to the point where some part or other of her left side was involuntarily moving almost all of the time. On top of this there came a day when she rebelled against drinking the prescribed milk, thus rendering the special diet useless. It was subsequently stopped. From that point on DG, Glitch and Gale spent most of their time in the hospital. The situation was becoming dire – Gale now couldn't sit without support, couldn't hold anything in her hands, had very little control over her arms (besides raising them and waving them around), and not a lot of neck control besides lifting her head for short periods and turning to the source of a sound. It soon also became apparent that she was losing her depth perception.

-/-/-/-/-

It wasn't unusual during Gale's nap times for Glitch and DG to take walks together through Central City. This was their way of stepping back from the enormity of what was going on. Although it was hard to leave her they knew she was in good hands, and they needed breathing space to remain sane. Certain conversations between the two of them etched themselves into DG's memory. When she opened up to him he rarely said much in response, but his presence was comfortable, and he was an extremely good listener. DG particularly remembered one time when Glitch had asked her what she found hardest.

"Aside from actually losing her? Well," she had replied, "Probably the hardest thing is being scared I'm losing sight of her. I mean, I don't want to start seeing her as a machine instead of as my daughter."

"Because you're a mechanic?" he had asked.

"Maybe," she pondered. "When I see something not working right I just have keep working on it until I fix it." She looked up at him. "What if she's never right?"

He looked down at her sympathetically with hooded eyes. "You cope with _me_ not being right."

DG thought about this and gave the merest hint of a smile. Her demeanour suddenly changed. "You know what else? I feel angry. Angry at Jeb." She seemed shocked at her own admission. Glitch remained silent – an invitation to elaborate. "I love him. But he doesn't know Gale exists. When he comes back and she's all better –" another half-smile, "– he'll never understand what she went through. He should be here with us. Not – not fighting someone else's battles endangering himself somewhere far away. Are we so boring and unimportant back here?"

Glitch tipped his head to the side and stared thoughtfully into space, as a little smile played on his face. Then he turned to DG. "Do you remember when Raw told Cain that Jeb was alive?" DG glanced at him and nodded. "He said to Cain: 'He lives to honour you. Honour you. Honour you. Honour you…'"

"…You're glitching."

"Oh. Well…Jeb tried to honour him by leading the resistance."

"Yeah…"

"What if he's doing this to try and honour you?"

"But I don't _want_ any of that!" DG sank down onto a street bench. "I thought he'd changed. I thought he had a heart. I thought I _gave_ him a heart." She sighed. "I guess I was wrong."

"Maybe not…" Glitch countered gently. "Maybe adventuring's just part of who he is. That doesn't make him heartless." He paused, "We should love people for who they are, not for who we hoped they would become."


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Cain came out of the palace with Ahamo and saw the balloon slowly descending through the sky. Hardly daring to hope, he tipped his head back, hand to his forehead to shield his eyes, heart racing. When he recognised Glitch, DG and Gale, he felt an inexplicable mix of crushing disappointment and soaring relief. Jeb was still gone, but Gale was back which had to mean progress of some kind. "Well?" He asked, as soon as they docked. Glitch shook his head sadly, looking at the ground. "What?" he looked from Glitch's face to DG's. "You're back. So she's going to be ok, right?"

"They can't treat her anymore, Cain," DG stated. Cain felt as though he had swallowed a sack of cement.

"They're keeping her on the medications," Glitch told him, "But they say they can't stop the fits, they don't know what it is, and she'll probably have permanent damage and…and…" He took a breath, "…Limited life expectancy. I mean, _very_ limited. Like, a few years". Ahamo put a hand on Cain's shoulder and tried to say something to comfort him – something about not being given more than you can handle, but that was rubbish because it implied happiness and a simple, peaceful life signified weakness, and he knew that wasn't true because hope for such things was what gave a person strength in the face of hell, and the iron (or tin?) will to keep fighting. His body didn't feel like it belonged to him. He shook Ahamo's hand off and stumbled off in the direction of the lake.

-/-/-/-/-

They didn't see Cain for a few days. This wasn't so unusual, but when those few days became a week and there was still no sign of him, Glitch wandered up to his room to investigate. The door was locked and the curtains were closed. He knocked on the door. "Cain!" He waited. No answer. Glitch stood, nonplussed. Then he drew back and hurled himself, shoulder-first, at the door. The lock gave way and the door flew open. Glitch stood in Cain's room, panting slightly. Cain did not even look up. He was sitting at his desk, a pile of books beside him. Glitch crossed the room to stand quietly by him.

"Cain?" Cain didn't respond. One hand tuned a page. Very gently, he reached over Cain's shoulder and spread his palm out on the page so the words were obscured. Cain tensed, and then turned to look at him. Glitch drew back – Cain looked dreadful. His face was pasty, his clothes were dishevelled and he had dark circles under his eyes, which had a hollow, burned out look about them.

"Are you ok?"

"I've looked through all the books in the library. These are Ahamo's…from the Other Side." He put the book face down on the table. "I can't lose her," he said.

"What?"

"Gale." He gestured at the books. "There's gotta be a cure."

"If there was a cure the doctors would have said something," Glitch said gently. He reached out to Cain in an attempt at comfort, but Cain drew away. "Don't touch me," he snapped.

"Sorry." Glitch bowed his head, backing down. He stayed like that for a few seconds, and then he realised Cain had stood up and was staring in silence at him. "Is…is there a problem?" he frowned and put a hand up to his head. "Is my zipper undone?" No response. "Something to do with my hair? My face?"

"They've gotta take it out," Cain muttered, tossed books onto the floor and, came upon a large, black volume which he grabbed and feverishly flicked through. Finally he came to rest on an elaborate diagram with one word across the top: 'Hemispherectomy'. "See? Cain said, stabbing a finger on one paragraph. "It can be used to treat some types of fitting." Cain's eyes were wide with hope. "And they get their abilities back! Glitch… _they get their abilities back!_ "

Glitch shook his head. "I'm a little confused…what does it mean?"

"Gale's fits – the doctors said only one side of the brain, ok?" Glitch nodded. "And the fits are getting worse. They've tried everything else and they're out of ideas, right?" Nod nod nod. "It's not the end of the road. There's another treatment as a last option."

"And what's that?" Glitch waited with baited breath.

"Taking it out."

There was a pause. "Taking what out?"

"The half of the brain that's causing the fits."

Suddenly Glitch was rooted to the spot as hundreds of mixed thoughts crammed their way into his mind, none of which he could articulate. "I need to find DG," Cain announced. He jumped up and ran from the room, leaving Glitch with his half-a-brain in chaos and his emotions still to catch up.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

"DG! DG!"

Cain came bursting into the living room, where she was feeding Gale one drop at a time, using an eyedropper.

She jumped violently. "What?"

"I know how to cure it! I've found it!" He was carrying the book. "Look…look at this. Swap." Cain held out an arm to take Gale. DG transferred her and took the book from him. Cain turned the pages over with his free hand until he reached the hemispherectomy page. Horror registered on DG's face, as he knew it would.

"WHAT? Take out half her _brain_?"

"It's the only way to cure her."

"Some cure that is! To get rid of the fits we mutilate her?" She turned angry eyes on Cain. "This isn't a cure! It's just trading one set of problems for another! Have you read about the effects?"

"It can get her to – "

" _Have you read about the effects?"_

Cain was silent, then eventually shook his head. She held out her arms for Gale, and he obliged, taking the book and distractedly scanning the effects. "Some permanent paralysis of the opposite side…possible vision problems…possible cognitive impairment. But the goods outweigh the bads. Most of the effects are temporary and without it she'll die…"

"Cain, this is a major operation. She's not a machine. I'm not putting her through it without a _lot_ of consideration." Crushing disappointment registered on Cain's face, giving way to mounting panic.

"But I can't lose her." He fixed her with a gaze that was weighty with significance. "I can't lose her," he repeated.

For a time, nobody spoke. "What is it, Cain?" DG finally asked.

Cain turned his face to the side, to look at Gale. "She's got hair like Jeb's and eyes like yours," he said, and his mouth began to shake. "But the rest of her face…it's Adora's." He drew breath and struggled to maintain his composure. "I can't lose her twice," he managed at last.

DG put Gale down on the floor, placed a cushion under her head and took Cain's hands. "Cain," she said, "I wish I'd known Adora. I wish she was still alive, because you loved her so much and she must have been the most incredible person."

"The best."

"I can't imagine how that feels for you now. But Gale is not Adora, and we have to do what will honour _her_."

Neither of them spoke. Then DG crossed to the window and peered out. She did a double take. "Glitch…?"

-/-/-/-/-

Cain kept an eye on Gale while DG made her way down to the lakeside, where she could see Glitch sitting. He had his back to her. As she got closer she noticed his shoulders jerking intermittently. "Glitch?"

"Don't look at me," she heard him say, and his voice seemed oddly thick and strained. She took his face in her hands, gently turned it towards her…and caught her breath. Glitch, who always managed to put a positive spin on things despite everything that was thrown at him; Glitch, who would kick back at others' jibes, yet cheerfully acknowledge his own shortcomings; Glitch who had walked with her, shared his thoughts with her and sat with her and Gale through all the medical treatments and uncertainty; had tears running down his face. She had never seen him cry before, and it was a deeply disturbing sight. "Oh, Glitch," DG heard herself say, but she could think of nothing else to follow it up with. She knelt by him. "Please don't," she came out with, knowing it was a pitifully inadequate attempt at comfort.

After a short time he mopped his face on his coat sleeve, and tried for a watery smile. "You must think I'm an idiot to get like this now after everything else."

"I could never think that," she reassured him. "What was it?"

"It would be head-casing her." He ground his fingers. "That's what a criminal gets – _got_ – in the O.Z. How can she be a criminal? She's a baby!" His devastation was morphing into quiet anger. "She'll be a zipperhead. They're second-class citizens – remember how Cain treated me initially. We're not welcome anywhere, very few people will buy from us or employ us and that's only the start. Worst of all she'll be a nut like me. And don't say I'm smart, DG, 'cause I'm not. I've got no sense of direction, I can't remember most of my life, I make stupid jokes, half the time I say and do the wrong thing…" his voice trailed away and he gestured hopelessly. "And it's permanent – I found that out the hard way. No child deserves that."

"Hey," DG took both his hands in hers. "First off, most of the criminals who were head-cased were heroes – they were treated as criminals because they stood up to the witch. And you're the most famous zipperhead now, and look at you – you mingle with royalty!" They stood up and started walking slowly along the river bank. "Second, you're not a nut. You're one of the wisest people I know, and that's different from being smart. Smartness comes from here…" she tapped her head, "But it's useless without wisdom, and that comes from in here." She briefly placed a hand on Glitch's chest. "Back when you had a whole brain you designed things without ever thinking they might be used for evil. Now you'd be more careful, right?" He nodded. "Then you're wiser than you were when you had a whole brain." Glitch considered this. "And Glitch…" she finished, "If Gale grows up to be half as kind, gentle, funny and courageous as you are, I'll be a very proud parent."

He nodded, before wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight – a simple expression of his affection and gratitude towards her, for which he had long ago run out of words.


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

The next few weeks were extremely difficult for everyone. Cain, having found a potential cure, began a relentless campaign to convince DG, Glitch, Az, Ahamo and the Queen that Gale should have the operation. He even rode into Central City, copied some pages from books in the hospital library and underlined all the positives, before returning and presenting his findings to DG. She gave the same answer each time. First, she would thank him for bringing her the information. Secondly she would say that she had read it all (she had done), and that she had taken it into consideration. Lastly she would remind him, with increasing emphasis, that Gale was not a machine and that the operation still carried the same risks as it had always done. Eventually he realised that only time would persuade DG to change her opinion, and the parade of copied pages began to dry up. Slowly but surely, however, Cain began to withdraw, and to disengage with Gale. DG struggled to understand this. If his granddaughter had a limited life expectancy, surely he should be spending every moment he could with her? She put it to Glitch one morning when they were having breakfast together.

"He's sealing himself back into the tin suit," was Glitch's short explanation. DG fiddled with a daisy that formed part of a flower arrangement at the centre of the table. Glitch shifted. "You know, if you want to ask me any questions I'll do my best to answer them."

"What kind of questions?"

"Well I've had the operation." DG raised her head – strangely enough that hadn't occurred to her. True, his operation had been involuntary, but he had still survived it and been through the recovery process. She had never liked mentioning his operation in front of him, for fear of touching a nerve. Even now, she was careful when putting the question to him. "What was it like?" she asked.

"Huh…that's easy," he picked up an apple and began to eat, talking through each mouthful. DG had to smile at the irreverence of it. "I went to sleep – very reluctantly – and when I woke up I had a zipper in my head." He gazed upwards for a moment. "Then I remembered I ought to remember a whole bunch of stuff I…didn't remember." He shrugged and took another bite. "And I couldn't move my right side."

" _What_ …?"

"Yeah. They took my left brain. Left controls right, right controls left."

"How did you recover?"

"Slowly, in a prison cell. Would've recovered a lot faster with proper care," resentment flickered in his eyes at the memory, "But care wasn't exactly the point. Anyway, one day they set me free on a whim, and the Long Coats had a field day watching me try and find my way back to the palace. I was in the forest for two days before the resistance fighters captured me. That's where you entered the scene." He chewed thoughtfully. "This apple's from the fields of the pape, right?" She nodded. He held the core up to the light. "Gotta love a good orchard."

"And what's it like glitching?" DG persisted.

"Glitching? Oh that's the easy part."

"Does it hurt?"

"Nope. Well, sometimes it tickles, but I'm ticklish anyway." He grinned.

"And the hard part?"

The smile faded and Glitch looked down at his empty plate. "Having to accept that there are some things I used to be good at, that I'll never do again. I mean I don't mind having trouble with directions…" His gaze turned sad and introspective. "…But I used to play the harp. Now I don't have the finger control." He flexed the fingers on his right hand a few times and shrugged. "But Gale…" he glanced over to where she lay on the couch, and his gaze became fixed. She wasn't twitching.

"Gale…?"

They both sprang up. Glitch reached her first. He lifted her up. Her face was white, her lips blue, her skin still warm to the touch but rapidly losing heat. He listened for a breath. "Come on Gale, breathe…breathe!" He shook her gently.

"No," DG whispered, and then again, "NO!" She grabbed Gale, put her lips to her mouth and breathed for her. After a few minutes DG felt for a pulse, before cradling Gale and dissolving into a torrent of bitter weeping. Glitch sat, dry-eyed, speechless and shell-shocked, this time utterly at a loss.

Minutes, or maybe it was hours, passed. Then Glitch raised his head slowly, realisation and hope dawning like a re-birth. "I know what to do," he whispered. She didn't respond straight away, but at last she turned towards him very slightly. "I know what to do," he said again, this time with conviction: "…And so do you."

"I don't understand…"

They both looked down at the tiny, still form.

"What your mother did for you."

"My mother…?"

"Yes. DG, it's her only hope."

DG brought her mouth close to Gale's and closed her eyes. "Quickly, before the connection dies," Glitch urged.

She screwed up her eyes with the effort. Then she opened them again. "I don't know how…" she said.

Glitch thought quickly. "How much do you love Gale?"

"More than life itself," came the instant reply.

"Well then," he suggested, "Focus on that."

DG closed her eyes once more. She thought about how the moment Raw told her she was pregnant, she had given birth to a new self – someone whose dreams, hopes and fears all depended on the baby growing inside of her. And how when she had Gale it was like breaking off a segment of her own soul and sending it out into the world, frail, naked, vulnerable. And though that fragment would grow and learn to look after itself, she would never completely cease her protection of it. And how every time Gale had fitted she had truly longed for nothing more than to be able to make it stop, or take her place. And how she had been unable to understand at the time how her mother could make the sacrifices she did, but now she knew that dying for your child or giving your power up for them was easy. Right now it was _not_ being able to do it that was killing her. With that last thought, she felt the light begin to flow out of her body and into Gale's. She felt as though her mind was searing, but there was no sweeter feeling – it was unbearable and it was beautiful at the same time. The last of the light left her, and DG did not even miss it. Gale gave a splutter, and the violent shuddering that now characterised her started up again. DG held Gale close in relief, and Glitch bent his head, letting pent-up tension dissipate.

As soon as she had gathered her wits, DG spoke. "She needs that operation," she said. "I gave her breath, but this – this existence – this isn't _life_."

"No." Glitch agreed. "This is a tin suit."

"Come on," and with that she picked Gale up and they went to find Cain.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

The four of them – Gale included – had been allowed into the hospital on the Queen's orders. Gale was taken for another scan. Raw knew as well as they did how bad the situation was, and as such the hospital did not insist on him remaining separate from them afterwards. He emerged from the room holding Gale, and though his face was serious, he did not look devastated. "Doctors say…" he struggled with the words – speech is not the natural language of viewers – "…Doctors say…it still just one side. That good?"

"Very good," Cain confirmed, and they all nodded.

Suddenly they looked at each other properly. "You know," Glitch observed, "This is the first time we've all been together since the fall of the witch."

-/-/-/-/-/-

It was one thing for Gale to be in a position to benefit from the operation, but quite another to convince the doctors. This responsibility was given to DG and Cain, because DG was Gale's mother and Cain knew the most about the operation. Glitch and Raw sat together outside the consulting room. They said nothing, but every now and then they would turn and look at each other.

"Look," the doctor was saying inside the consulting room, "No doctor has performed this operation legally since the fall of the witch. It goes against everything in the Ozian New Medical Ethics Code. Do good, don't do bad. If we take out half her brain we're giving her some degree of permanent paralysis on one side and maybe also taking out some cognitive function."

"If you don't take it out you're killing her." Cain's voice had a menacing edge. The last time DG had heard him speak in that tone, it had preceded the drawing of a gun.

The doctor shifted uncomfortably. "Even if we could ethically perform the operation no surgeon in the O.Z. has ever done it, or studied it. And even if they had studied the theory behind it I doubt there are any who are skilled enough."

This hadn't occurred to DG, and she was stuck for an answer. Then Cain spoke: "I know someone skilled enough." DG opened her mouth to question, but he shook his head at her quickly, and she had no recourse but to trust his plan, whatever it was.

The doctor looked at them strangely. "Frankly you don't sound sane. I'm breaking every rule here…But assuming you're telling the truth, if you can find this person and bring them to us we can discuss the operation."

DG's eyes were fixed unwaveringly on Cain, who finally stood up. He was radiating purpose. He gestured with his head for her to follow him. Without bothering to ask what the plan was, she followed him out the consulting room. "Come on, Glitch," Cain said, "Raw, you stay here with Gale. And please send out a signal to the other viewers. Ask for one of them to meet us at the witch's palace."

"The witch's palace on the plain…?"

"Yes. And I'd like you to keep in telepathic communication with that viewer while we're away, so we know how Gale's doing. She'll have to stay here – she's too fragile to come with us or stay at home."

This was all quickly arranged, but leaving proved harder than Cain had anticipated.

"You need to use an eye dropper or syringe to feed her or she'll choke," DG told the nurse.

"She likes bubbles," Glitch added.

"Don't forget to rock her – that often gets rid of the worst of them…"

"…And she can't have apples or mug-glug or corn with butter…"

"No, she can have them now."

"Oh." Glitch nodded, assimilating this apparent contradiction to what he'd understood.

"Come on," Cain cut in. He drew the two of them away gently, "She'll be ok."

-/-/-/-/-/-

Cain had arranged transport, as the hospital wished to have no involvement in any unofficial protocol until they had seen the surgeon, and they did not have time to wait for Ahamo and then to arrive in his balloon. Said transport had been left parked outside the hospital – a plated van with two front seats, two back seats and a barred space in the back. Cain and DG climbed into the front seats, and Glitch squashed into the back. "Seatbelts," Cain said. "It's gonna be a long drive," he added kicking the engine into gear. "Are we sitting comfortably?" There were general noises of confused ascent. "Then I'll begin." And with that the car rumbled forwards.

-/-/-/-/-/-

There was no road from the city to the witch's palace, so driving was bumpy and slow. Glitch had asked why they couldn't use horses. "This'll be the fastest transport for the return trip," he had replied.

"Cain?" DG asked at length, "Why are we going to the witch's palace?"

"To find our surgeon."

"In a _prison_?"

"That's right."

"No more information?"

He stared grimly ahead.

Two hours later: "Hey Cain?"

"What?"

"How long can this thing go without petrol?"

"It's solar-powered," Cain answered DG, "That's why we have to get to the palace before nightfall," and with that they fell silent again.

One hour later: "Cain?"

"What?"

"I know we're on a serious mission, but can we sing a song?"

Cain glanced back at Glitch. "Go on then."

He gazed out the window.

" _From the city on the hill down to the palace on the plain,_

 _Through the snow and ice and wind, the beating sun and pouring rain,_

 _Through the runners in the wood, through the people bad and good,_

 _I would brave a thousand-fold this to be with you once again._

 _I would cross the highest mountains to be by your side,_

 _There has never been another though I've travelled far and wide,_

 _And no matter what I do, I cannot stop loving you,_

 _And I know I'll feel this way until the day I die."_

"I learned that from someone at school," he informed them, resting his head back on the seat and closing his eyes.

-/-/-/-/-/-

When they arrived at the palace, one of the guards had come down to the front door to greet them. He gave a low bow. "Callahan is waiting to see you. Come up to the living floor."

"Who's Callahan?" DG inquired as they took the clanking iron lift up to the top of the palace where the old living quarters were still situated.

"The viewer Raw sent – his second in command," the guard replied. "Gale's alright. At least that was the news at around lunchtime." DG breathed a sigh of relief. "Come and dine."

They stepped out the lift into the hallway. Another staff member waved them through a door into the dining room. It was bright, with a high, flat ceiling, shiny wooden floor and a long trestle table set for dinner, complete with candles. DG sat in her usual place, with Cain beside her. Glitch sat opposite them, and a viewer sat quietly beside him. "Oh…you must be Callahan," he held out a hand, which Callahan merely looked at, before nodding at each of them, with eyes that had seen too much.

"How is she now?" DG asked, timidly.

Callahan nodded. "She lives," he said. DG dropped her gaze and nodded. It wasn't much of a reassurance, but at least it was something to hang onto.

After dinner had finished and the staff had cleared the dishes, they all turned to Cain.

"Ok," DG said, "What's the plan?"

Glitch noticed that Cain's self-assurance had drained, and that he was looking at him with an expression of great doubt.

"We need to go down to the cells. That's where our surgeon is," Cain stated.

Glitch glanced around at the others. All of them had clearly caught onto something that he was missing, because now each of them was looking at him with varying expressions of apprehension.

"The records say he's still alive," Cain said.

The guard, who had come back in, nodded. "Floor five, cell sixteen."

"Thank you. Glitch?" Cain jerked his head towards the door. Glitch glanced at the guard, then at DG and Callahan. All of them nodded at him to go with Cain.

"What are we doing?" he enquired as they descended in the lift.

"I need your help," Cain explained. "Our surgeon is the sole survivor of the previous royal medico team."

"So…but that would make him…an ex-Long-Coat…?"

"An ex-assistant of the witch anyway. He faces execution."

The doors of the lift opened into a grey, stone corridor lined with prison cells. Dead, hateful eyes peered at them in the semi-darkness. Goosebumps formed on Glitch's skin. No longer were the occupants of these cells pitiful, innocent subjects who had been abused and left to rot in misery. These were people and creatures that, given half a chance to escape, would want to recreate the Outer Zone the witch had tried to build. Presently, Cain stopped and clapped a hand to Glitch's shoulder. "You may find this upsetting," he said, "Don't let it cloud your judgement." Glitch nodded, bracing himself. Cain walked a few paces and turned to address the occupant of one of the cells.

"Number One?" There was a grunt in reply. "Brought someone to see you." He took Glitch's arm and pulled him gently into view. The look of shock on the prisoner's face was matched only by the one sported by Glitch. He felt as if he might faint. Those utterly cold eyes had not softened one bit with the fall of the witch – they were the same eyes that had gazed calmly into his, cranial saw in hand, as his consciousness had melted away on the operating table.

"Glitch! Glitch no!" Glitch had sprung across the room with a snarl that sounded very like "You wait." It took all of Cain's strength to hold onto him as he struggled to break free and reach the wheel that opened the cell door. All the while he was yelling: "I'll kill you – I'll rip your brain out piece by piece like you did to me and God knows how many others, and I'll make sure it hurts – let go Cain, this isn't your fight – and then I'll do it to everyone who ever cared about you – Cain I said LET GO – you made me into a head-case with a zipper, you son of a mobat, and you weren't sorry then and you're not sorry now! I'll make you suffer, I swear you'll never get away with it as long as the suns shine and the blood runs in my veins!"

"Stop, Glitch, stop! Look at me. Look at me, Glitch." Cain had taken hold of Glitch's shoulders and was speaking to his face in a firm, loud, urgent voice. For a few seconds Glitch tried to wrench his himself free of Cain's grasp, before he gave up, looked into Cain's eyes and took in the shocked expression on his face.

"Well, that answers my first question," Cain commented. "He's our surgeon."

"No Cain," Glitch was breathing hard, "No. He's not. He can't be."

"You need to look at the bigger picture – "

" – Oh no. Don't tell me to forgive him. Don't you tell me to forgive him, Cain."

"Glitch, a grudge won't only kill Gale, it'll slowly destroy you too. I know, I spent years – "

" – No, Cain, I can't do it. I can't. I can't I can't." He was beginning to shake.

"You must."

"I can't!" It was a whimper now.

"You _must!_ Please, Glitch," and here he lowered his voice and looked straight into his eyes. "Don't do something in anger now that you'll regret for years to come. He's not worth it."

Glitch's eyes wandered from Cain's face to the cell. The prisoner was watching them quietly, secure in the truth of Cain's words. It was all Glitch could do to control himself. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

"Give me a moment," he eventually muttered to Cain, "Just him and me."

"How do I know you're not gonna kill him when my back's turned?"

Glitch met his eyes. "Gale," he said simply, "DG."

Cain paused, then slowly drew away down the corridor. For some time, Glitch and the prisoner faced each other wordlessly.

"I'm Gale's only hope," the prisoner stated, mockingly.

"How dare you say her name," Glitch spat.

"Gale, Gale, Gale. Little fitting Gale, lying in the hospital, waiting for someone to make the pain stop," he taunted.

Glitch clenched his fists, before kicking the empty cell opposite to vent his feelings. It hurt more than he expected and he rubbed his foot, hopping precariously. The prisoner watched, grinning. "How do you know about Gale?" Glitch asked, once both his feet were planted firmly on the ground again.

"Everyone knows about Gale – she is royalty, after all." Glitch couldn't deny the truth in this. "You think you're in control," the prisoner continued. "But her life is in my hands." He savoured his power. "You designed the sun-seeder, and DG forgave you. But I wonder what the good princess would say if she knew it was you who took away her daughter's only chance of life?"

There had once been a time when Glitch was the unrivalled O.Z. chess champion. It had been that kind of thinking that had raised him from stable groom to Queen's advisor. Most of that had gone with the left side of his brain, but he still knew when he was checkmated.

"Could you perform the operation?"

"Technically, yes. At a price."

"A price…?"

"The operation for my freedom."

Knowing you're checkmated doesn't necessarily make it any easier to surrender. Glitch didn't seem to be able to move or respond.

"Hey," Cain was standing beside him, hand on his arm.

"Cain, I need a night."

"What do you mean?"

"He'll do the operation for his freedom. The car won't work until morning anyway. I need time to think."

"We leave at sunrise," Cain told him, guiding him away. "Let's go."

With a last look at the prisoner, sitting, smiling contentedly in his cell, Glitch turned and retraced his steps down the corridor with Cain.

-/-/-/-/-/-

DG looked up as Cain and Glitch entered the living room, and it was easy to see that something major had happened in the interval they had been gone. "We leave early tomorrow morning," Cain said, before she could ask anything. "We can't leave until the suns are up, and we need to pick up our surgeon first."

"Callahan?" Callahan turned towards DG, "Can you ask Raw to tell Gale goodnight from us and that I love her?"

He nodded, closed his eyes and tipped his head back. He said nothing for a minute or so. Then he smiled and opened his eyes again. "Raw tell her," he said, "And he say she love you too."

-/-/-/-/-/-

In the middle of the night DG awoke. Her arm curled protectively around empty space, and immediately she was wide awake. Then she remembered and sank back on the pillows, hearing the silence close in, and becoming more and more aware of the fact that the endless movement she was used to these days was gone. She tried to empty her mind and allow sleep to overcome her again, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't stay in there alone either – the absence of that little presence she so loved cut her more deeply with each passing minute. DG slipped out of bed and padded to the door. She pushed it open with a creak, and made her way down the landing. She had no light, and as the landing was dark she could see only dim shadows. She moved forward, one hand trailing the wall for doors. Suddenly she came up against a solid, warm, breathing mass and let out a scream, which was muffled by a gentle hand placed over her mouth.

"Shhh…" a voice soothed her.

" _Glitch?!_ " she hissed, "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same. I miss Gale." She felt in the dark for his hand. "Come through to the lounge."

They sat on the sofa together, gazing at the embers of a dying fire. Glitch had his knees tucked up under his chin. His eyes were strange – they reminded her of Callahan's too-wise ones. She kept her hand on his knee until he was ready to speak. When he did, he held nothing back. He told her about his encounter with the 'surgeon', and the ultimatum he had given them. "I just don't know if I'm strong enough to do it," he concluded, curling and uncurling his toes, and rocking backwards and forwards.

"You know…you don't have to think he's a good person in order to forgive him," DG said thoughtfully, "And you don't have to justify his actions to anyone – or your own reasons for doing it." She patted his knee. "You don't have to like him. All you have to do is tolerate him enough not to rip him to pieces when they open up that cell."

"If you kill him, all you're doing is upping the body count by one and taking his place as a murderer," a familiar voice interjected. Their heads whipped round to see Cain standing in the doorway. "Can't sleep?" he enquired.

"Hey, it's like a big slumber party!" Glitch commented, gazing from DG to Cain and back, a smile spreading across his face. It was amazing how fast he could switch from quietly doubtful to completely sunny in the space of a few seconds.

"Wait there," DG instructed, sitting Glitch down beside Cain on the couch. "I'll be right back."

When DG returned she was carrying the blanket off her bed. "Keep still," she instructed, and then sat down beside Glitch, draping the duvet over the three of them. "That's better," she said, curling up, resting her head on Glitch's shoulder and closing her eyes.


End file.
